Cannibal Girls is a strange early-1970s horror film about threewomen and a reverend who enjoy a rather specific diet. When it played in movietheaters, this film employed the gimmick of having a warning bell sound beforescary moments. The DVD includes the option of having the movie play with thewarning bell. And that, of course, is what I did, in order to get as close as Icould to the original theatrical experience. A voice-over at the beginningtells us: “During the showing of CannibalGirls, in consideration of those of youwith delicate sensibilities, a special warning bell has been installed. It willsignal you when to close your eyes to avoid certain scenes of a shockingnature. A musical chime will indicate when you may safely open them again.”

The opening scene shows acouple fooling around playfully, and though there’s snow on the ground, theyput down a blanket to make love. And sure enough, within seconds, the warningalarm goes off. We get horror and nudity all within the first two minutes ofthe film, before the opening credits. And that is exactly what you want from afilm like this. Welcome to Farnhamville, “The Friendly City,” where vansdeliver special meat.

After the openingcredits, we are introduced to our two lead characters - Cliff and Gloria – whoare taking a vacation in Farnhamville. But, as is demanded in horror films,they are lost. So they stop at the side of the road; and then they have troublegetting the car started again. It would be typical horror movie stuff, exceptthat this couple is played by Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin (this is beforetheir work with SCTV). So you know this is not going to be acompletely straight horror film. Also, they are both wearing great fur coats.

They stop at the town’ssole motel, and are its only guests. The woman who owns it is happy they’rethere, and tells them that people are scared off because of the legend of thethree girls who coaxed men to their farm and killed them.

We’re then treated to aflashback of the three girls – a blonde, brunette, and redhead – toying withthree men at their farmhouse. The redhead undresses in front of one of theguys, and then kills him (after the warning bell sounds). I’m guessing he mightsay it was worth it. The blonde handcuffs a guy to her bed, and the three girlsthen pour some blood on him and lick it off. He’s into it, of course, untilthey bite him, the blood clearly being just a sauce for the meal. It’s awonderful moment.

Back in the present, themotel owner tells the couple the house is still there. It’s a restaurant now. “They say the food is very good,” shetells them. That’s typical of the humor of this movie, which is at times reallyfunny.

They go to therestaurant. The Reverend, who greets them, comments “Lovely furs” as he takes their coats, and they both thank him. Heshows them around, giving them interesting bits of information. About hisdistant cousin, he tells them, “It’srumored that he liked men, sometimes exceedingly well. He did produce some veryfine children. Though to be honest, none of them resemble him in the slightest.”He also tells them that their wine is made from grapes grown on hisgrandfather’s grave, as human remains add an earthy quality to wine. A lot ofpeople aren’t aware of that.

The film is a good combination of horror and comedy,though a large part of the enjoyment comes from watching these earlyperformances by Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. The scene where Eugene Levyplays guitar in the motel room is particularly good.

Cannibal Girlswas directed by Ivan Reitman, who went on to direct such films as Meatballs, Stripes, and Ghostbusters.

Bonus Features

This DVD has severalbonus features. The first, Cannibal Guys,is a truly interesting conversation with director Ivan Reitman and producer DanielGoldberg, and is approximately twenty-seven minutes. Ivan says that Sam Arkofftold him, “This movie is so terrible thatit might make some money.” They talk about how they went about getting theequipment and securing the location, and about their short shooting schedule,only nine days. They talk about the guitar scene that I love, and say a lot ofthe film, including that scene, was improvised. There wasn’t a script, only a13-page outline. Ivan Reitman tells us, “Thegreat lesson that was learned on this movie is that screenplays are good, andit’s good to work on them for a long time.” The movie originally clocked inat only sixty-five minutes, so they had to shoot more, to make it funnier andscarier. The opening sequence with the couple is an example of a scene that wasshot later. This is an excellent special feature.

The second bonus featureis Meat Eugene! This is an interview that Richard Crouseconducted with Eugene Levy, and is approximately twenty minutes. It was shot ata meat market, which is kind of stupid, but the actual conversation is interesting.Eugene Levy talks about his early days, doing theatre. He’s quite candid abouthis inexperience in front of the camera when making Cannibal Girls. By the way, the fur coat he wore in the film wasDan Goldberg’s actual coat, and he says it didn’t quite fit him.

In neither of thesefeatures do they talk about the warning bell, which is a shame. I’d like toknow whose idea it was, and when exactly it was introduced.

The DVD also includes thefilm’s theatrical trailer, with that great serious voice saying, “Strangers who stopped for lunch ended upstaying for dinner.” There is also a television ad. Both the trailer andthe commercial mention the warning bell. And there are two radio spots,advertising a double feature of CannibalGirls and Raw Meat.

Cannibal Girls was released on DVD through Shout! Factory.

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Cannibal Girls is a strange early-1970s horror film about three
women and a reverend who enjoy a rather specific diet. When it played in movie
theaters, this film employed the gimmick of having a warning bell sound before
scary moments. The DVD includes the option of having the movie play with the
warning bell. And that, of course, is what I did, in order to get as close as I
could to the original theatrical experience. A voice-over at the beginning
tells us: “During the showing of Cannibal
Girls, in consideration of those of you
with delicate sensibilities, a special warning bell has been installed. It will
signal you when to close your eyes to avoid certain scenes of a shocking
nature. A musical chime will indicate when you may safely open them again.”
The opening scene shows a
couple fooling around playfully, and though there’s snow on the ground, they
put down a blanket to make love. And sure enough, within seconds, the warning
alarm goes off. We get horror and nudity all within the first two minutes of
the film, before the opening credits. And that is exactly what you want from a
film like this. Welcome to Farnhamville, “The Friendly City,” where vans
deliver special meat.
After the opening
credits, we are introduced to our two lead characters - Cliff and Gloria – who
are taking a vacation in Farnhamville. But, as is demanded in horror films,
they are lost. So they stop at the side of the road; and then they have trouble
getting the car started again. It would be typical horror movie stuff, except
that this couple is played by Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin (this is before
their work with SCTV). So you know this is not going to be a
completely straight horror film. Also, they are both wearing great fur coats.
They stop at the town’s
sole motel, and are its only guests. The woman who owns it is happy they’re
there, and tells them that people are scared off because of the legend of the
three girls who coaxed men to their farm and killed them.
We’re then treated to a
flashback of the three girls – a blonde, brunette, and redhead – toying with
three men at their farmhouse. The redhead undresses in front of one of the
guys, and then kills him (after the warning bell sounds). I’m guessing he might
say it was worth it. The blonde handcuffs a guy to her bed, and the three girls
then pour some blood on him and lick it off. He’s into it, of course, until
they bite him, the blood clearly being just a sauce for the meal. It’s a
wonderful moment.
Back in the present, the
motel owner tells the couple the house is still there. It’s a restaurant now. “They say the food is very good,” she
tells them. That’s typical of the humor of this movie, which is at times really
funny.
They go to the
restaurant. The Reverend, who greets them, comments “Lovely furs” as he takes their coats, and they both thank him. He
shows them around, giving them interesting bits of information. About his
distant cousin, he tells them, “It’s
rumored that he liked men, sometimes exceedingly well. He did produce some very
fine children. Though to be honest, none of them resemble him in the slightest.”
He also tells them that their wine is made from grapes grown on his
grandfather’s grave, as human remains add an earthy quality to wine. A lot of
people aren’t aware of that.
The film is a good combination of horror and comedy,
though a large part of the enjoyment comes from watching these early
performances by Eugene Levy and Andrea Martin. The scene where Eugene Levy
plays guitar in the motel room is particularly good.
Cannibal Girls
was directed by Ivan Reitman, who went on to direct such films as Meatballs, Stripes, and Ghostbusters.
Bonus Features
This DVD has several
bonus features. The first, Cannibal Guys,
is a truly interesting conversation with director Ivan Reitman and producer Daniel
Goldberg, and is approximately twenty-seven minutes. Ivan says that Sam Arkoff
told him, “This movie is so terrible that
it might make some money.” They talk about how they went about getting the
equipment and securing the location, and about their short shooting schedule,
only nine days. They talk about the guitar scene that I love, and say a lot of
the film, including that scene, was improvised. There wasn’t a script, only a
13-page outline. Ivan Reitman tells us, “The
great lesson that was learned on this movie is that screenplays are good, and
it’s good to work on them for a long time.” The movie originally clocked in
at only sixty-five minutes, so they had to shoot more, to make it funnier and
scarier. The opening sequence with the couple is an example of a scene that was
shot later. This is an excellent special feature.
The second bonus feature
is Meat Eugene! This is an interview that Richard Crouse
conducted with Eugene Levy, and is approximately twenty minutes. It was shot at
a meat market, which is kind of stupid, but the actual conversation is interesting.
Eugene Levy talks about his early days, doing theatre. He’s quite candid about
his inexperience in front of the camera when making Cannibal Girls. By the way, the fur coat he wore in the film was
Dan Goldberg’s actual coat, and he says it didn’t quite fit him.
In neither of these
features do they talk about the warning bell, which is a shame. I’d like to
know whose idea it was, and when exactly it was introduced.
The DVD also includes the
film’s theatrical trailer, with that great serious voice saying, “Strangers who stopped for lunch ended up
staying for dinner.” There is also a television ad. Both the trailer and
the commercial mention the warning bell. And there are two radio spots,
advertising a double feature of Cannibal
Girls and Raw Meat.
Cannibal Girls was released on DVD through Shout! Factory.